suckle
/ˈsʌkl/ (bre, ipa) · [sˈʌkəl] /ˈsʌkl/ (ame, ipa) · [sˈʌkəl] /ˈsə-kəl How to pronounce suckle (audio)/ (ame, mw)
suckle — verb
- sucklepresent simple I / you / we / they
- suckleshe / she / it
- suckledpast simple
- suckling-ing form
1. When a female mammal feeds her young with milk from her body, she suckles them.
When a female mammal feeds her young with milk from her body, she suckles them. When a young animal draws milk by holding its mother's teat in its mouth, it suckles.
The mother cat suckled her three kittens in a quiet corner of the barn.
transitive: mother + suckle + offspring
The lamb wobbled over to the ewe and began to suckle hungrily.
intransitive: young animal + begin to suckle
Lucía suckled her baby, gently stroking its head as it drank.
The goat suckled her two kids in the warm morning sunshine.
Each evening, the fox cubs would suckle from their mother until they were full.
- breastfeed
the usual term for humans; more common in everyday conversation
- nurse
used for humans; slightly more old-fashioned or clinical
- feed
general word; needs context to show it means breastfeeding
- wean
to gradually stop a baby or young animal from suckling
文法句型
mother/animal + suckle + baby/offspring
baby/young animal + suckle
用法筆記
Used for both humans and animals, though more common in animal contexts in modern English. For human babies, 'breastfeed' or 'nurse' is more frequent in everyday conversation.